10 ways to Boost the Speed and Performance of Your VPN

ibVPN released a post regarding the most important thing of a VPN service : Speed . we feel it is a great post for everyone, so we repost it here

Here at ibVPN we have the need for speed in our DNA.

Starting with our Manager who recently purchased a sport car with a… real professional pedigree, going further with the Customer Support Manager who’s preparing himself for the fastest marathon, we are all addicted to speed.

Amit Kalantri is right: „In modern time slowness is new sickness”. Especially when it comes to digital world, speed is a need. As online protection is a seriously need, too.

And comming back to our field, the biggest challenge when using a VPN service is speed and reliability of the connection. And here at ibVPN we work tirelessly towards a single mission: helping our clients take control of their online privacy and freedom with a FAST and STABLE service.

Let’s find out more.

Does a VPN Slow Down Internet?

For this simple question we don’t have a simple „yes or no” answer.

The first thing you need to know is that a VPN is dependant on the speed of your connection to the Internet. Whatever the speed of the connection is, you should expect a small loss in speed, usually 10 – 20% when compared with your connection without a VPN.

Here’s the list that will help you increase your VPN speed and achieve a good balance between security and performance.

10 Tips to Boost the Speed and Performance of a VPN by ibVPN

1. Check the internet speed

First step: check your internet speed without a VPN. For this task you can use SpeedTest.net. Therefore, if your internet connection is also slow, then that means your VPN connection is not to blame for the slowdown.

We also want to mention that there are several reports that show that most people are getting slower broadband speeds than they’re advertised. This shows the speed test vs advertised in USA.

The slowdowns may be caused by:

– Hardware issues: between you and your ISP there are several hardware devices (switches / routers / adaptors) that can reduce the download speed

– The distance between you and your ISP: if you are closer you will get better speed that someone who is located kilometers away. Usually in cities the download speed is higher than on the country side.

– The fact that the Internet connection is shared with other customers of the same ISP. If you share the connections with someone who is downloading torrents all day, you will get a slower speed. That is not the case if your ISP is throttling the peer-to-peer traffic.

– Throttling which addresses types of traffic, like media streaming or torrents and download size. You might have an unlimited subscription but after downloading a large amount of data, your connection might get limited by the ISP.

2. Change VPN Protocols

Different Internet Service Providers support different VPN protocols. If you are experiencing slow speed, switch between the protocols i.e. PPTP, L2TP, SSTP, IPsec, OpenVPN and SoftEther. Switching between the protocols also resolves the disconnection issue. Try changing the port/protocol until you identify the fastest combination. Don’t forget that All-In-One VPN Windows App from ibVPN is introducing the Automatic VPN Protocol selection, one of the coolest new features.

If you are using the VPN just for browsing the web, we strongly suggest to use a browser extension that we provide for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. The extensions are using HTTP(S) proxies which are faster than standard VPN protocols.

3. The VPN’s servers load

4. Select the Nearest VPN Servers

If you are located too far from a VPN server (your desired location), you may not get maximum speed of that VPN server. Find out which server is the closest to your location and which ones provide a good route (suitable for fast speeds). For this we are using a tool called PingPlotter. See how to use PingPlotter.

5. Use VPN Connection Speedometer

A useful tool you will find in All-In-One VPN Windows App is VPN Connection Speedometer. Use it to see how fast are the VPN servers for your ISP connection.

6. Use our server list with favourite & fastest servers

An another useful tool you will find in All-In-One VPN Windows App is a highly customizable server list with favourite & fastest servers. This list of servers is highly configurable and allows you to sort and search the servers by locations (country, continent) and includes a graphical representation of server load. The fastest server option is also available on our iOS app.

7. Adjust Firewall

Some Routers and 3rd party firewalls also cause speed and disconnection issues. Adjust the Router / 3rdparty / Windows Firewall and check if any speed limitations are being applied.

8. Encryption

Speed is directly related to the Protocol you select. PPTP is less encrypted and offer higher speed whereas L2TP and SSTP are more secure and offer high level encryption up to 256-bit therefore they offer slow speed. Whenever user increases encryption level it decreases the speed. However, OpenVPN may give you high encryption with good speed.

If your primary objective is to download torrents we suggest to test the download speed by using Socks proxies (included in Torrent VPN and Ultimate VPN packages) – instead of VPN. The encryption is not strong but it is sufficient for this purpose. To help you choose the right package for you, we’ve made a Package Guide.

9. Use a wired connection from your device

Wireless connections use a shared channel to transmit data to many devices in your home. This can slow down your WiFi connection. Try a wired connection to your network, as this will definitely increase your internet speed.

10. Restart your device and router

As simple as that! A simple trick that could help increase your VPN speed.

Hope this article was useful for you to maximize the performance of ibVPN.